Penguin

01/19/2012

"As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."

--The Fault in Our Stars

This is a book that's being reviewed far and wide all over the universe if you'd like to read more about it. It's currently #1 on the young adult New York Times bestseller list. I think this is a lovely and special book to be sure, but rather than "review" the book, per se, I want say something about Nerdfighteria.

I've read all of John Green's books. (Looking for Alaska is my favorite; I wrote about it here.) I was aware of the existence of Nerdfighteria. (Here is a Nerdighter FAQ if you have no idea what I'm talking about.) I knew that they like to say, "Don't forget to be awesome." I've truthfully always thought the whole thing seemed kind of corny, even for me, and I am pretty dang corny. But I'd never been around any Nerdfighters (that I know of) until last night.

When I drove up beautiful St. Charles Avenue toward the historic temple where the Tour de Nerdfighting event featuring John Green and Hank Green was being held, there were people lined up on the sidewalk well down the block. I thought to myself, "I guess there are some Nerdfighers in New Orleans," and rushed through the cold darkness, dodging the street car coming up the line, and walked inside, settling in one of the pews and feeling the energy in the air. These kids were psyched. And they stayed that way the entire time. "I can't believe how many adults are here," a girl behind me observed loudly, and I smiled to myself. I smiled so much throughout the evening that my face hurt as I drove home.

A group of three or four teenagers spilled into the row behind me and immediately took notice of a guy sitting nearby who was kind of keeping to himself. "Oh my God! We didn't expect to see YOU here! What are you doing here?" They peppered him with questions, talking over each other all at once. "Yeah," the guy said, kind of sighing, "This is kind of the other side of me." The solo guy kind seemed kind of straightlaced and calm, possibly a football player. The group surprised by his presence had more of a spazzy punk rock alternative free spirited sort of style. But there they were, smooshed side by side in the row. "I feel like this is something you would make fun of me for! But -- you're here!" said one of the girls. He sighed, "Yeah." Then the girl said, "Are you a Nerdfighter? I can't believe you're a Nerdfighter! It's not fair!" And he said, "What do you mean?" And she said, "That you, like, hide." One of the other guys yelled, "Do you have a Tumblr?" And the football player guy said, "Yeah ... no," like, "As if." Then the group said they were going to take and post a picture of him as evidence that he was there. He laughed, "It's okay ... no one I know has a Tumblr." But as they snapped his picture, he held up his copy of The Fault in Our Stars and he smiled.

"Who am I to say that these things might not be forever? Who is Peter Van Houten to assert as fact the conjecture that our labor is temporary? All I know of heaven and all I know of death is in this park: an elegant universe in ceaseless motion, teeming with ruined ruins and screaming children."

-- The Fault in Our Stars

This was a night of reading, songs, answering questions, and talking about books and life. John Green explained at one point while answering a question that one of the criticisms of his books is that he doesn't sound like he's writing in the voice of an actual teenager. He said, "I just know a lot of hyper-intelligent teenagers," and I thought, "Indeed," looking around at the hundreds of them all around me. They were so messy and weird and quiet and wild and great.

John Green talked about how in an ordinary life, there are not many opportunities for epic heroism -- throwing ourselves on grenades for others, if you will. But that we can be heroic in our own small ways that can ultimately be big ways. Here it is: I think that John Green and Hank Green are heroes. I think they are changing these young people's lives, and I think they are making the world a better place.

So I think that my love and appreciation for the Greens is not so much about the books one Green writes (wonderful) and the songs one Green sings (brilliant) but about this community they've created together that's more than a community, isn't it? It's a movement. And the young people who are a part of this movement simply by being who they are filled that big, beautiful temple last night with so much warmth and empathy and joy and sincere appreciation for the strangeness and uniqueness of every soul in there that it moved me from my head down to my toes. The whole building was vibrating with their joy. I forgot that I thought it was corny to be a Nerdfighter.

They did not forget to cheer when John Green mentioned The Great Gatsby. They did not forget the words as they sang along with Hank Green's songs about Harry Potter and about particle physics. They did not forget to fall silent and listen -- really listen -- when John Green said things like this:

"Forever is an incorrect concept wrongly based on the idea that the sun isn't going to explode. We are temporary. This is temporary, and our responsibility as humans within this temporary -- this weirdly temporary but still sort of, in some ways, infinite -- life that we have, with our gift of consciousness, is to find a way to live as well as we can live, to take the best care that we can of each other and of ourselves, and organize our lives in a way that reflects our values and our hopes for the people who'll come after us, as well as honoring the people who came before us -- that's a very, very complicated thing to do."

They did not forget to stand up and dance together, dragging each other off their feet.

12/18/2011

It was a GOOD year for picture books. So I'm going to whiz through this general rec list quickly, with very short descriptions, so this post isn't any more insanely long that it's going to be. I've also added in one that I keep talking about, and still no one seems to know it. I'm also assuming that by now you have heard of I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen; if not, you want to look for that, too. (I am firmly Team Bear.)

And a reminder: the links go to my local indie, Left Bank Books; any affiliate $$ I earn will be turned around into buying books for the St. Louis Public Schools.

1. KING HUGO'S HUGE EGO by my not remotely secret imaginary illustrator boyfriend, Chris Van Dusen: Hopefully you have been listening to me talk about Chris Van Dusen for years now, so you already have If I Built A Car and The Circus Ship and Down to the Sea With Mr. Magee and A Camping Spree With Mr. Magee and Learning to Ski With Mr. Magee and all the Mercy Watson books. Perfect! It's time for Hugo. King Hugo has a huge ego, and cannot stop himself from saying unbelievably egotistical things to everyone he meets. However, he ticks off the wrong subject--a local witch--and soon he finds his head literally growing bigger with every conceited word he utters. Will he stop himself in time?

2. CHICKEN BIG by Keith Graves: I love daft animals in picture books, and CHICKEN BIG features some incredibly daft chickens. This is a twist on Chicken Little, but much awesomer, and the littlest chicken in particular is a hoot.

3. PRESS HERE by Herve Tullet: One of the most brilliant participatory picture books of all time. You begin by having your child press the yellow dot on the page, and with each subsequent turn, amazing things happen. You can start this one with your little picture book fans, but even older ones will get a kick out of it.

4. ARE YOU A HORSE? by Andy Rash--this is the one no one seems to know, and I don't know why. Roy's friends give him a saddle for his birthday, and it's marked "1. Find a horse. 2. Enjoy the ride." Roy embarks on a journey to discover what a horse is, to hilarious effect. I handsold this like mad. I still giggle during this book.

5. THE BOY WHO CRIED NINJA by Alex Latimer: "Once there was a boy named Tim who no one believed. When his mom asked him what happened to the last slice of cake, he told her the truth. "It was a ninja," cried Tim. Of course Tim's parents don't believe him--but what happens when Tim proves them wrong? So. Awesome. Was definitely my handsell of the early fall.

6. E-MERGENCY by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer: When E slips down the stairs and ends up in the hospital, the other letters are forced to find a substitute for her - the letter O. Can you imagine if a car went BOOP BOOP? LOVE. Sort of like an Ella Minnow Pea for picture book fans.

7. I NEED MY MONSTER by Amanda Noll; art by Howard McWilliam: Ethan's under-the-bed monster Gabe goes fishing, so Ethan's forced to interview substitute monsters so he can fall asleep. This one turns the monsters-under-the-bed-being-scary myth on its head, and it becomes instead a hilarious exploration of why one monster after another just isn't what Ethan needs. Thankfully Gabe comes back at the end (the fish were too scared of him) in time to send Ethan off to sleep in an ominous pool of drool.

8. YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND! by Peter Brown: You WILL love this book! In this companion to last year's awesome CHILDREN MAKE TERRIBLE PETS, our heroine, Lucille Beatrice Bear, goes off into the forest to force people to be her--er, make a new friend. She just isn't very good at it. Fortunately, just in time, she gets some excellent help.

9. TOM'S TWEET by Jill Esbaum; art by Dan Santat: Hungry Tom spies a tiny bird, flapping and struggling, just ripe for the eating. However, every time he tries to eat the tweet, he ends up helping it instead. This one just came out in November and hasn't seemed to "hit" yet, so you can get in on the ground floor! I don't like cats at all (and I usually don't like cat books, either) and I LOVE THIS BOOK.

10. STUCK by Oliver Jeffers: Floyd's kite gets stuck in a tree, so he throws his shoe up to try to knock it loose. Now his shoe's stuck. He'll have to throw something else. Where will it end? This one builds ridiculously bigger and bigger and kids will have so much fun trying to guess what Floyd will throw up there next.

11. THE SNIFFLES FOR BEAR by Bonny Becker; art by Kady MacDonald Denton: Hopefully you already know Bear and Mouse from A VISITOR FOR BEAR and A BEDTIME FOR BEAR and the reader A BIRTHDAY FOR BEAR. I think this one's just as delightful as the others, as we see Bear being a very sulky unhappy patient as Mouse tries to nurse him through a cold with his usual unflappable cheerfulness. (The best part is when Bear starts going over his will.)

12. THE MAN IN THE MOON by William Joyce: This is the picture book you can give anyone - child; artist; steampunk fan (they'll totally dig the art) - the audience for this one is huge, and this book is going to be around for a long, long time. It tells the story of MiM, the Man in the Moon, and his friend Nightlight, who help to protect the children of the world from Pitch, the King of Nightmares. Together with several other childhood legends MiM becomes one of the Guardians of Childhood. It is impossible to explain to you how much I love this book. In fact, when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch asked me to pick my five favorite children's books of the year, this was the picture book I chose.

12/07/2011

Okay, maybe the post title's a little out of control. I'm guessing you need no explanation for this topic. I'll just get to it, shall I? You will also notice the reviews are much shorter, as I am starting to run out of time. (I'm guessing your kid already has IF I BUILT A CAR by Chris Van Dusen, because you'd have to be in a coma to not understand how nutso I am for Chris Van Dusen, so I'm not even going to mention it here. Much.)

3. CARS GALORE by Peter Stein (with art by Bob Staake, who I LOVE): A rhyming, traffic-filled celebration of every kind of real and made-up car your little car fanatic can possibly come up with.

4. EVERYTHING GOES: ON LAND by Brian Biggs: This crazy awesome book is about a little boy and his dad and their vehicle-filled trip to the big city. Every picture is jam-packed with people and vehicles and animals and numbers and other stuff - there is stuff to look at everywhere, some in close-up. It's like WHERE'S WALDO meets CARS AND TRUCKS AND THINGS THAT GO, on steroids.

5. OTIS AND THE TORNADO by Loren Long: the sequel to my much-beloved OTIS (which I KNOW you already have, right? RIGHT?) finds our sunny little tractor saving his farm friends when a tornado comes out of nowhere.

6. DINOTRUX by Chris Gall: Before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, prehistoric trucks did. (Really! You never learned this in school?) Learn all about things like the Dumplodocus. This book is like crack for truck-and-dinosaur loving kids. Give it to them as a pair with DINOSAUR DIG and watch their little heads explode.

7. THE THREE LITTLE ALIENS AND THE BIG BAD ROBOT by Margaret McNamara: The three little aliens' mom tells them to go out and make their way in the world, which they do - being mindful that they need to watch out for the Big Bad Robot. They go from planet to planet (one is too hot; one too crowded) before setting up homes and preparing to face off with the BBR. The art in this fun retelling is awesome, too.

8. ALONG A LONG ROAD by Frank Viva: In this, the quietest of the books I've chosen by far, a man sets out on a bicycle trip along a long road through many different landscapes. The minimal words and striking, five-color illustrations lend themselves to a reader imagining for themselves many of the stories that might happen along that road.

11/05/2010

Full disclosure: Antony John is both a local St. Louis author and a friend.

Last October, at the MBA regional trade show, I went up to say hi to Catherine Gilbert Murdock. She lives near Children's Book World, so I'd sold her kids books on occasion and chatted with her at events. She told me that she had an author friend in St. Louis whose new book was really good and that I should get a copy as soon as I could and get to know him. This was excellent advance info to have, because I have to tell you that hearing that someone local or someone you know has written a book is a scary thing for exactly one reason: what if the book isn't any good? I have been very lucky in this aspect, as the authors local to CBW are awesome, and St. Louis sports a whole bunch of amazing authors as well. But every time you hear about a new one, you cross your heart and hope with all your might that the book will be a good one. So hearing from Catherine that I needed to get my hands on FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB was something that had me emailing my Penguin sales rep right away. And then I actually met Antony before I got my hands on his book, and he turned out to be super nice, so I was crossing my heart and hoping again. So what happened when I finally got my hands on the book and read it? It turned into my favorite contemporary YA novel of the year, and tomorrow night at 7, we'll be celebrating its release with a live high school band and a cake that's probably too big and a whole bunch of wine. (A far better outcome than even I had hoped for.) When Piper was six, she began to lose her hearing. Now she's a senior in high school and she gets by with a combination of hearing aids, lip reading, and signing with whoever's willing to learn – which leaves out her dad, who for some reason has never learned how. Piper's got a baby sister named Grace, and their parents just bought Grace a cochlear implant. With Piper's college money. Without asking her first. Now the deafness that Piper and Grace had in common is gone, and Piper feels more than ever like her parents see deafness as a tragic disability to be cured whenever possible – and that her college education is not as important as making Grace as perfect as she can possibly be made. Frustration, a need for money, and a strange set of circumstances lead Piper down an unexpected road: she becomes the manager of Dumb, a high school band who just won Seattle's annual Teen Battle of the Bands. She quickly learns that her lack of hearing is hardly going to be the hardest thing she has to overcome in her new position; Dumb have problems of their own that are about to become Piper's problems. As her experiences with the band grow, she begins to stretch in ways that are entirely foreign to her parents, adding to the already great tension that hangs around their house. Ultimately Piper will need to learn an entirely new way of navigating her various worlds, and she isn't entirely sure that her parents are ready for her to break out of her box. Add in a possibly fragile relationship with her younger brother, Finn, and a possibly changing friendship with Chess Club-acquaintance-turned-band-member Ed, and Piper's got more on her plate than most people can handle. Piper? Awesome character. Completely awesome. Voice: totally female and believable, which a lot of male writers are really bad at. Exploration of the Seattle music scene: completely cool. Family relationship: multilayered; realistic; heart-wrenching at times. Emotional without being overwrought. Antony's writing: effortless. (At least in feel. I am sure he shed more than a little blood, sweat and tears over this one, but it reads like it just poured out of his head.) FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB: so very highly recommended.

09/01/2010

When Maya's best friend Stephanie died from cancer, her world fell apart. When her father's job became uncertain, he and her mother took the opportunity to give the family a fresh start and moved from Iowa to Oregon. There are a lot of different things about their new town, including the people who live in the apartment building next door (who dress strangely and stick close to home) and, oh yeah, there's the fairy that flies into Maya's room one night. When Maya wakes up the next morning, she thinks it was a dream - until she finds gold sparkly dust on the sheets. And the strange just keeps on coming: she meets her next door neighbors, and they use words she's never heard of; a strange boy keeps asking her where the portal is; her neighbors are able to smell the fairy dust on her. Finally, at the end of her first day in her new school, Portal Boy shows up again and gets her to agree to take care of something he's stolen. Now she has a magical egg in her wrist, which is going to hatch into...something. Her next door neighbors are the only people with the power necessary to help her: they are the guardians of portals to other worlds, including the one where her egg came from. They've opened a door to another world for Maya, and it is one that will change her forever. This is my first Nina Kiriki Hoffman novel (and her first for kids), but it won't be my last. I LOVED this. I think the best thing about this (besides the fantastic writing) is that it's not really fantasy, and it's not really science fiction. It is an incredibly cool mix of the two, very unlike anything else I've read and yet comfortably set in our modern world with a main character anyone can relate to. Maya's grief over Stephanie gently powers a lot of her actions, which gives the whole book an undercurrent that really showcases Hoffman's writing. It's an incredibly realistic portrayal of adolescent emotion, which is unusual in a book in this genre. I also loved watching Maya deal with her troubles partially through art, taking everything down in her omnipresent sketchpad. So not only do we have fantasy, scifi, wonderful writing, and compelling characters, but we also have messages of the importance of art in our lives and of the power of grief. It's a lot to fit into one middle-grade book, but Hoffman makes it look effortless. Sequel, please.

08/23/2010

In a season where dystopia is the new utopia and boyfriends (or girlfriends) either have demonic (or angelic) tendencies, THE GRIMM LEGACY is a welcome oasis of clever plotting and wonderful reimagining of old tales. Elizabeth, our heroine, spends her days trying to please her stepmother and two stepsisters, and even must leave her beloved dance classes in order to help pay for her sisters’ college fees. When on the way to school in downtown New York, she encounters a homeless woman wearing only sandals in the brutal cold. Elizabeth gives the woman her gym sneakers, and this kind deed has unexpected repercussions: she is invited by her enigmatic history teacher to interview for a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository. Curious and in need of extra cash, Elizabeth goes to the interview, and is subsequently hired at the Repository, which she comes to learn is a library of sorts for magical objects. Some, as the title alludes, are from the Grimm fairy tales, but others have more sci-fi applications, including collections from Wells and Lovecraft. There are objects going missing from the Repository, however, and Elizabeth must choose which of her new co-workers are worthy of trust as they search out the thief. There is something wonderful about reading a book that takes you away to a place you’d really like to go, and The Grimm Collection does just that. I can’t tell you how much I want to go to the Repository now (you know, provided it actually existed). Everything about it is so whimsical (and a little dangerous), and Polly Shulman did such a wonderful job choosing the objects to feature. Elizabeth is a brilliant heroine, and I rooted for her from page one, but I also really liked the supporting cast: Marc, the hot African-American basketball star who’s keeping secrets; Aaron, the geeky-cool nerd who pretends to be cynical; and Anjali, the girl-who’s-so-pretty-you-want-to-hate-her-but-she’s-really-nice-so-you-can’t-and-also-may-have-a-secret-too. The amazing thing about this novel is that it’s a perfect fit for so many ages. It would make a charming read for a savvy eleven or twelve year old, but older teens will enjoy the romantic possibilities between the characters as well as the magical rules of the world; you can borrow a magical artifact if you get clearance from the Repository, but you have to leave something of yours behind, which could be your sense of humor, your singing voice, or even your firstborn child. This is a must-buy for any middle school librarian looking for something original and—dare I say it—perhaps even a little sweet. Note from Melissa: this is one of my favorite books of the season, and I am so glad Sarah reviewed it. It is absolutely delightful. Shulman's a favorite of mine, and it will not disappoint you. I too am dying for the Repository to actually exist, and you will be too. Thank goodness we can visit whenever we want by reopening this book.

08/04/2010

(or, rather, what we read to her) Molly is used to having many, many books a day read to her. We knew that we'd need to take quite a few with us when we recently went away for five weeks. We knew that they'd need to be paperbacks. We knew we'd need a mix of old favorites and new things to keep it interesting. I'm going to do a few posts about some of the books that she requested over and over again. MR. PUTTER AND TABBY FEED THE FISH by Cynthia Rylant with illustrations by Arthur Howard. I often forget, while selling picture books, that many early readers make excellent read-alouds for the toddler set. I've been selling Mr. Putter and Tabby books forever, but it had honestly been quite awhile since I read one and I had forgotten just how darn charming they are. In this adventure, Mr. Putter and Tabby decide to bring home some fish. However, Tabby becomes obsessed with the fish, going BAT. BAT. BAT. on the bowl and staying up all night to do so. Eventually Mr. Putter gives the fish to a neighbor, and he and Tabby are able to relax once more. Tabby has such personality, and her quirks are so well offset by Mr. Putter's steadfastness. Howard's art is the perfect lively compliment to Rylant's usual lovely, fun writing. I'll be bringing many more books in this series home soon and will be selling them with renewed joy. BEAR FEELS SCARED by Karma Wilson with illustrations by Jane Chapman. We are BIG fans of Bear; I think at this point we have the whole series. We've been reading these for well over a year and Molly still loves them. In this installment, Bear gets lost on a walk and becomes frightened. His worried friends form a search party and track him down, take him back to his cave, and snuggle up close..."and the bear feels safe." These books have a lovely rhythm to them which makes them a delight to read aloud; the friendship between the animals is one of my favorite in picture books, ever; and Chapman's art is always note-perfect. This is one series where I find it almost impossible to pick a favorite - you can't go wrong with any of the Bear books. I AM TOO ABSOLUTELY SMALL FOR SCHOOL by Lauren Child. I am not exaggerating when I say that Molly is completely obsessed with Charlie and Lola. The whole phenomenon began with this book and two others and ballooned into a TV show with accompanying merchandise. I was careful to hook her on the 3 originals (this one plus I WILL NEVER NOT EVER EAT A TOMATO and I AM NOT SLEEPY AND I WILL NOT GO TO BED) before ever letting her learn about the show. We now own the whole series on DVD (and it is actually wonderful), but the other books (all based on TV episodes) are for library checkout only in our house. Anyway. In this book, Lola is about to begin school and she is quite nervous about it. She comes up with all sorts of charming reasons why she doesn't need to learn to count above ten ("I never eat more than ten cookies at one time") or write letters to her friends ("I like to talk on the telephone. It's more friendly and straightaway"). Eventually her long-suffering older brother Charlie convinces her to go so she can keep her imaginary friend, Soren Lorenson, company on HIS first day of school. Of course everything is fine - amusingly, charmingly, Britishly fine. (Thanks to the TV show, Molly frequently talks in a British accent now. It is hilarious.) If you have missed Charlie and Lola in your household, try one of the fabulous original three books. I'd skip the others in favor of actually watching the show, because it is absolutely delightful. I'll do another installment soon!

05/13/2010

The school year is almost over. Summer is coming. Kids are going to reluctantly troop into the shop to buy their assigned summer reading, and most of them will be looking for something to counteract it. Something...lighter. More fun. Less...assign-y. Less...mandatory. And just in time, along comes Miss Lucy B. Parker. Charming, flawed, sympathetic main character? Check. Lighthearted writing that nevertheless has some substance behind it? Check. Squeaky clean without feeling babyish? Check. Available in paperback? Check. Lucy B. Parker sends emails to tv host Dr. Maude (presumably a Dr. Phil-esque advice giver) about the trials and travails of her sixth grade life, and the emails are scattered throughout the tale of same. As if it wasn't hard enough starting sixth grade without her two BFFs, who friend-dumped her - on the phone - from the mall - right before school started! - her mother is now dating the father of the most famous young actress/singer on the planet (think Miley Cyrus early in the Hannah Montana years). Lucy's been going through one embarrassing time after another and now she's facing life as the far less attractive, appealing and talented stepsister of the most famous girl on the planet. How much worse can her life get? This novel is charming as all get out and a complete no-brainer handsell. I'm predicting it will be a summer bestseller for me. Over the last couple of years I have very much enjoyed selling Robin Palmer's fairy-tale based contemporary YA novels, which I have happily been selling to tweens due to their lack of very older content. Now it's lovely to see Ms. Palmer turning her hand to novels truly aimed at the tween market, which just seems to be exploding. I love having books that I can hand to anyone without a second thought - reader, mom, grandmother, aunt, birthday gift giver. I love having paperback original series. I love tweeniness. I can't wait for Lucy's next adventure!

02/21/2010

I know, I know - NYC trip; summer 2010 buying appointments; book fairs; book talks; event planning; oh yeah and then there's my actual home life. I have had to jam so many books into my days that I do not actually have time to stop and review them, which completely sucks.
I can tell you a little bit about one book I love and can't wait for, though, because they picked my blurb for it for the Spring Kids' Indie Next List:
Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve
(Dial Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 9780803733626)
"Polly Peabody lives on a magical rhubarb farm where diamonds grow and rain falls on a schedule. But when the rain stops falling, the plants begin to wither and the tourists stop coming. Polly's belief in the magic has always been unwavering -- is it enough to bring the farm (and her shaken family) back to life? The only thing more magical than the rhubarb farm itself? This book." --Melissa Posten, Pudd'nhead Books, Webster Groves, MO
I was so excited to see it included - I LOVE THIS BOOK and cannot wait to sell it. See the preview of the whole list here!
(Be back soon, I promise.)

01/11/2010

It has been hard to post here over the last few weeks, but I am determined to finish listing my favorites of last year (even if, in the end, it is simply a list). These are not necessarily my Caldecott predictions, as the books that I end up loving most are often not the sort of book the Caldecott committee selects for one reason or another. These are also not in any particular order. I'm going to start by linking back to the reviews of any books that have ended up on this list rather than re-review them here. These reviews are also going to be pretty short. There will also be hardly any nonfiction, because I sell very few nonfiction picture books in the shop, so I haven't had the same experience with those as I have with the fiction this year. 1. OTIS by Loren Long 2. THE SLEEPY LITTLE ALPHABET by Judy Sierra; illustrations by Melissa Sweet 3. THE CIRCUS SHIP by Chris Van Dusen 4. ARE YOU A HORSE? by Andy Rash This book has one joke, but it's a good one (which I will not reveal, because it's on the last page). Roy is given a saddle for his birthday, and he has never seen one before (which is a little odd considering he's basically dressed like a cowboy). Fortunately said saddle comes with instructions: 1. Find a horse. 2. Enjoy the ride. So Roy goes off looking for a horse, working his way through many different living creatures in the process (and learning something from each one). I LOVE Rash's art, too. This one's a favorite in my house as well as in the shop. 5. THE LION AND THE MOUSE by Jerry Pinkney I am assuming that you have all seen this magnificent, beautiful achievement by one of the finest children's book illustrators to ever walk the earth. If this doesn't (finally, belatedly) earn him the Caldecott Medal he has long deserved, I suspect I will not be the only unhappy reviewer/reader/blogger/bookseller out there. 6. THE CURIOUS GARDEN by Peter Brown A quietly lovely book about a little boy who discovers a small patch of green on top of the railroad tracks in the dingy, brown place where he lives. He begins to tend to the green, eventually growing a garden, which inspires others to grow their own. Slowly, across the city, the gardens spread. With its basic message of "act locally," this book is very close to my heart. 7. ALL THE WORLD by Liz Garton Scanlon; illustrations by Marla Frazee This is such a beautiful book. My 3 year old daughter wasn't enraptured by it, but I think it works best either with someone younger (who is listening more to the cadence than the story) or someone older (and a little more capable of conscious thought about the world at large). This is the kind of book I often sell to a grandparent - often grandparents come in asking me for "something new and beautiful" that might be saved forever. This is definitely that book. This is also the perfect book to give your picture book-loving adult friend or relative. 8. 14 COWS FOR AMERICA by Carmen Agra Deedy; illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez This book is based on the true story of a Masaai man named Kimeli who returned to his Kenyan village after 9/11, bringing with him the story of what happened that day. The villagers are so moved by the story and wonder what they can do for the people of the US. Kimeli offers his prize cow - a generous, symbolic gift as to the Masaai, the "cow is life." In the end, fourteen cows are given as a gift. This is one of those stories that we don't often hear about, making it the perfect story to be turned into a picture book. "No nation is so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort." 9. THE CHRISTMAS MAGIC by Lauren Thompson; illustrations by Jon Muth Jon Muth's illustrations alone are enough to get just about any book into one of my "best of" lists. When you pair them with Lauren Thompson's delicate story, this book becomes my favorite "pretty" Christmas book of the last...well, several years, at least. Santa Claus (dressed all in midnight blue in a lovely variation on what has become tradition) is preparing for the arrival of the Christmas magic, and the book takes you step by step with him through everything that leads up to Christmas Eve. He selects a toy for each child, because he knows what each wants most, and loves them all (there's no "good list" and "bad list" here). He grooms the reindeer, and polishes the sled, and carefully, quietly, lovingly welcomes in the magic of the season as he always has and always will. This got added to my personal Christmas book collection immediately. 10. PRINCESS BESS GETS DRESSED by Margery Cuyler; illustrations by Heather Maione. There is always a need for a sparkly pink princess book, but I truly cannot abide selling them if the sparkly pinkness masks a mediocre story. Not the case here - this is delightful, and my customers agreed with me. Princess Bess has a day filled with obligations, and must change her clothes for each one. Finally at the end of the day she is free to retire to her room, where she strips off her finery and dances around the room in her favorite outfit of all - a set of simple cotton underwear. The rhymes are good, the art is good, and the extensive fashion display is sure to please fans of FANCY NANCY as well as little girls who just love dressing up. 11. LLAMA LLAMA MISSES MAMA by Anna Dewdney I am a big fan of the LLAMA LLAMA books, both as a bookseller and as a mother. This one was especially timely for me as my daughter started preschool this past fall, and that's what this book is about. We got a lot of mileage out of "Don't forget when day is through, she will come right back to you!" which is what the teacher tells Little Llama when he gets sad and misses his mama. Also, it's just fun to say "llama" over and over and over and over again. 12. RHYMING DUST BUNNIES and HERE COMES THE BIG, MEAN DUST BUNNY! by Jan Thomas I think you either think Jan Thomas's books are hilarious, or not. There's no in-between. I am definitely in the former category. (A BIRTHDAY FOR COW is so beloved in our house that every family member can be heard yelling "A TURNIP!!" occasionally.) I LOVE the dust bunnies. In the first book, Ed, Ned and Ted, the dust bunnies, rhyme all the time: "What rhymes with car?" "Far!" "Jar!" "Tar!" "Look!" says their friend Bob. As the others try to educate Bob on proper rhyming technique, it becomes apparent that Bob is trying to deliver a message to the others. Will they listen before it's too late? The second book has the dust bunnies attempting to placate (and, eventually, befriend) the big, mean dust bunny they've encountered. The illustrations might have you thinking that these books are best for younger toddlers, but the humor's more sophisticated than that. Molly liked hearing A BIRTHDAY FOR COW when she was 2 1/2, but now that she's a little past three, she truly finds it funny. 13. FELICITY FLOO VISITS THE ZOO by E.S. Redmond Redmond tells the tale of little Felicity Floo, who infects an entire zoo full of animals because she uses her hand to wipe her runny nose rather than a tissue, and for some reason (you must suspend your disbelief here), you are allowed to pet every single animal in this zoo. She leaves teeny tiny little green handprints all over the animals, and begins an epidemic so large they name it after her. The whimsical Edward Gorey-esque illustrations fit the story perfectly, and, of course, it sends a very timely message in a brand new way. 14. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Clement C. Moore; illustrations by Rachel Isadora Isadora pairs her awesome African-inspired art (LOVE Santa's white dreadlocks) with Moore's classic poem to create yet another book of hers that had to go on my home shelf immediately. Bonus: as I said to one of my favorite customers (who shares my sarcastic sense of humor): "I didn't know that people of color celebrate Christmas too!" (This customer is African-American and we often discuss the dearth of books for children that aren't about slavery or civil rights or athletes or drugs.) Never is the whitewashing of children's publishing more evident than when the Christmas books start to arrive. I'd like to think that many more will follow this, but history has me rolling my eyes at the very idea. 15. NEVER SMILE AT A MONKEY by Steve Jenkins This book has the creepiest back cover of any picture book, ever. Jenkins uses his trademark paper collage art to instruct the reader about what not to do should you encounter certain animals. Since he often has more than one book published per year, I feel like Jenkins must have a sort of picture of Dorian Gray, asleep, in his attic - how else could he make so much art out of teeny tiny pieces of paper? I have never been less than impressed with his art, and the information contained within the books is always top-notch as well. This book is no different and will certainly please animal lovers, especially those who have a taste for the slightly scarier side of nature. 16. DINOTRUX by Chris Gall Honestly, this idea is so obvious that I can't believe no one ever thought of it before, but that's also what makes it brilliant. This imagines that before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, there were Dinotrux! The Dumplodocus...the Semisaur...the Blacktopadon. So simple, so clever, so funny. Absolutely fantastic, bold art. Great cover. This was on many, many in-store wish lists this past holiday season, and I love the way little boys' eyes light up when they see it. Dads are also usually pretty gleeful when they pick it up, like the little boy inside of them can't wait to turn the pages. Sometimes a book is pure fun to sell and this book has been one of those for me. And...that's it! I am sure I forgot something, and if I remember what it is, I will add it to this post another time. Let me know if I seem to have missed something that you think is amazing!